An Evaluation of the Intensity of Radical Islam in the Balkans and the Assessment of Its Level of Threat for European Security

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gjorgji Veljovski
Keyword(s):  
European Security ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Radical Islam

scholarly journals Strategy in the making: Russia-NATO Relations under Strategic Competition

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (27) ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Luis Alexander Montero Moncada ◽  
Maria Paula Velandia García
Keyword(s):  
World Politics ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
European Security ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Strategic Competition ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

In this article, we examine the elements that are being developed by NATO and Russia in a strategic competition in Europe. Having analysed these elements, each sub-system, as described by the Realist Theory of International Relations, is facing major changes in today’s world politics. From Northern Europe to the Balkans and the Black Sea region, the analysis focuses on areas of tension that could potentially become problematic for the interaction between the two actors. Besides, the Baltic region is explained further due to its continuous activity regarding either hybrid or tradition war tactics. Finally, we draw a parallel between NATO, the EU and the USA as main actors in European Security and how the latter has been changing drastically since Donald Trump took office. We conclude by analysing potential risks, scenarios and conflicts between NATO and Russia in short range projections.

ESDP in Practice: Crisis Management without Strategic Planning

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 178-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Asseburg ◽  
Ronja Kempin
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Crisis Management ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
European Security ◽  
Global Security ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Eu

In 2003, the EU declared its civilian and military crisis management instruments ready for deployment. Since then, EU member states have demonstrated their capability to act as a global security player. They have deployed civil missions and military operations to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, the Eastern neighbourhood, the Near and Middle East, and even to Asia. Th ese engagements have encompassed a variety of approaches and tools to crisis management and stabilisation, ranging from the training of security forces and the support for the rule of law, to the provision of a military or civilian presence, to safeguard elections or to monitor border arrangements and ceasefire agreements, to the fight against piracy or other forms of organised crime. Altogether, by the end of 2009, the EU had conducted 23 missions and operations under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The EU has made considerable progress on its way to becoming a global security actor. However, case studies show that many ESDP engagements face substantial shortcomings – chief among them the lack of long-term, strategic planning for future deployments, a binding and institutionalised “lessons learned” process as well as a consistent follow-up by member states and EU institutions involved.

scholarly journals IS THE WESTERN BALKANS A FAVORABLE REGION FOR RECRUITMENT OF JIHADISTS?

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-191
Author(s):  
Ilhan Eminov
Keyword(s):  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Religious Influence ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Radical Islam ◽  
Population Ratio ◽  
The Developed Countries

There are over 5 million Muslims representing 25 % of the region's population living on the territory of former Yugoslavia which had roughly 20 million citizens. By comparison, there are also around 5 million Muslims living in France, a country that had several colonies in the Muslim world, but the population ratio is different compared to the 60 million of the French population. Unlike the developed countries of Europe, the economies of the Balkan countries were destroyed by numerous interethnic conflicts. After the war of the '90s, the Balkans were living in a longtime economic and social crisis and a state of organized crime. With the beginnings of party pluralism, the different religions gained their former religious identity back.In Croatia and Slovenia, the Catholicism experienced a renaissance, same as the orthodoxy did in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro and the Islam did in Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Western Macedonia and Sandzak. After the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the fall of communism in the Balkans, the opportunity for increased foreign religious influence became a reality.Today, the image of a tolerant, open Islam from the communist era is still present, although it too is affected. During the several decades of communist rule, the traditional religious networks that affirmed an Islam shielded from Wahhabist and Salafist influences were disintegrated.108The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina intensified the implantation of the mujahidin in Bosnia in 1995. The traditional Muslim imams gradually lost their authority to the newcomers in a large number of mosques. At the same time, in light of its powerlessness, the state began to lose control in the field. It is estimated that some 67 mosques are controlled by radical Islam today, especially in rural and mountainous regions.109Under the pressure of great financial resourced which flowed in from Gulf countries, the education of Bosnian imams in Egypt and Saudi Arabia began. Step by step, Salafist imams were installed in the region preaching a more radical Islam. In such a situation, it was easier to recruit future Jihadists, especially among the socially vulnerable population.110 For example, one graffiti in Pristina (Republic of Kosovo) states: "Every woman will receive 200 euro a month if she wears a niqab".111 The radicalization spread in Bosnia and Kosovo with the greatest intensity. "Bosnia and Kosovo remain the most dangerous countries in Europe due to their political weakness and the high corruption rate. More than 75.000 weapons circulate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one Kalashnikov can be bought for the price of 200 euro and easily brought into the Schengen region", a former police officer of the EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina points out

The Western European Union (WEU)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime H. A. Larivé
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Defense Policy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Security ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Western European ◽  
The Eu

This empirical and historical analysis of the Western European Union (WEU), an intergovernmental defense organization, contributes to the broader understanding of the construction and integration of European security and defense policy. The WEU was established in 1954 by the Modified Brussels Treaty after the failure of the European Defense Community and at the time of the construction of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Over its lifetime, the WEU was confronted by two major trends: the centrality of collective defense agreement providing security on the European continent enforced by NATO and the construction of a European security and defense policy within the broad integration process of the European Union (EU). The WEU provided a platform for Western European powers, particularly France, the United Kingdom, and Germany, to engage in the construction of a European defense. Historically, these countries had diverging visions ranging from an autonomous force to one that should remain under the NATO auspice. The end of the Cold War accelerated the transfer of the WEU mission to the EU, but the crises in the Gulf region and in the Balkans in 1990s led to a period of activity for the WEU. The institutionalization of the EU, beginning with the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht, accelerated the construction of a European defense and security policy within EU structures. The transfer from the WEU to the EU began in the late 1990s and the WEU was dissolved in 2011.

The Balkans and European security

Survival ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-117
Author(s):  
Leo Mates
Keyword(s):  
European Security ◽  
The Balkans

The Balkans and European security: A Romanian perspective

1991 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niculae Constantin Spiroiu
Keyword(s):  
European Security ◽  
The Balkans

Balkan Regional Development: Moderate or Radical Islam for the Balkans

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Věra Stojarová ◽  
Richard Stojar
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Radical Islam

European Security – Islamist terrorist network in Bosnia and Herzegovina (original research)

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (37) ◽  
pp. 124-170
Author(s):  
Darko Trifunovic ◽  
Juliusz Piwowarski
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Original Research ◽  
European Security ◽  
World War ◽  
World Religion ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
The Balkans

Radical Islamic ideas, individuals, movements, organizations, but also states that have greatly contributed to the radicalization of the existing Muslim population of the Balkans and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not new. Ever since the Middle Ages, with the aggression and genocide committed by the Ottomans, the ideas of jihad have been present in various forms, especially in environments that interpret Islam as a great world religion in such a radical way. There is a noticeable connection between the bearers of jihadist ideas from World War II until today. This article not only provides a historical analysis of the preconditions for the widespread jihadist network that today produces jihad warriors who threaten the entire world but also provides an authentic overview of the preconditions of this global terrorist network to better understand elements such as this network – it’s functions, how it recruits new terrorists and how it uses the ideology of radical Islamists as a motive for committing serious crimes around the world. The schematic structure of the mujahedeen unit with command staff is shown, as well as the fact that the terrorists welcomed the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina who tried to hide their presence and to relativize all the worst crimes committed by the mujahedin.

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